John Deere no.9 sickle mower problem

[Spart9n]

Hello all. I m new here but I m having a seemingly unsolvable problem with my JD no.9 mower. I dug it out of the weeds this spring and started fixing it up. I replaced all the segments/knives and straightened the cutter bar. Then I bought 27 all new rock guards from the local JD dealer which was, lets just say a "few" bucks. After all of this, my cutters won't lay flat on the rock guard ledger plates. They hover about a 1/16" too high. I called the place where I bought the new guards and they assured me that the old number I gave them (H-11132-H) crossed to the new guards they gave me (AE36136). However I took a new guard and an old guard and mounted them on a piece of 1/4" flat steel and the old guards seem to be a 1/16" higher then the new ones (See picture). So I took this assembly to the JD store and was told that this was "the first time anyone has had a problem with these guards". I tried bending them up with a hammer as well, as I was told these guards are malleable, but that didnt work either. They hardly bend, and even if they did the tips of the segments would be in contact with the guards before the base so they would be angled improperly. I live in amish country and so I also had an amish guy who works on this type of machinery all the time come out and look at the problem, he told me I have the wrong guards. So I ve been doing some measuring, the bar the rock guards mount to is 7/16"thick. The wear plates are a little over 1/16" thick. And on the rock guards themselves, measuring from the flat part where it mounts to the bottom of bar to flush with the ledger plate gives me 7/16". A little math gives me a little over a 1/16" too low at the rock guard ledger plate. As for the hold downs, I ve had them hammered down to point where the segments contact the ledger plates but then again the tips touch before rear so the angle is off plus it puts everything in a bind with really high heat friction points. So in the end I have no idea what to make of this. Are the guards wrong? or is the bar the wrong size somehow? I feel like I ve tried everything and I m not sure what to do next.

 

[old]

Guards need to be adjusted as in bent with a piece of pipe or a hammer or the hold downs need to be set tighter. BTDT many times on many brand of sickle bar mowers

 

[SVcummins]

It?s to bad you didn?t get the new style double
guards if you were going to spend money on new
guards

 

[Bob]

(quoted from post at 21:31:00 10/14/19) Guards need to be adjusted as in bent with a piece of pipe or a hammer or the hold downs need to be set tighter. BTDT many times on many brand of sickle bar mowers

NO, NO, 1000 times NO, there should be NO need to mangle NEW John Deere guards installed on a John Deere mower!

 

[Bob]

Let's start at the beginning with this, in John Deere nomenclature, these things are simply called "guards".

If you are working in rocky conditions, and opt for a tougher (and more expensive) version) the heavy-duty parts are sold as "rock guards".

The parts place was correct in that the old number H11132 crosses to AE36136.

But, looking at your photo, they didn't sell you genuine John Deere guards with a part number of AE36136, they sold you a common AFTERMARKET replacement part, a "DM700" and they don't fit correctly. And, likely at the price of the real thing. (I've got a bunch of the *^$@! things here that came on a mower I bought for parts, and they don't fit properly on my #350, either.)

(Are you getting angry yet?)

Go to ebay auction # 143396869268, in his photos, you will note the "JD" trademark on top of the guard (where yours is marked "700", and the "AE36136" number clearly marked on the mounting ear of his guards, that's the real thing, that's what you want!

Also, note how different the "ledger plate" is between your "wanna be's" and the real thing. (That's the serrated cutting edge, wedged in place on the Deere's, riveted in the aftermarket guard.

Return the crap you were sold, get your $$$ back, and go to a place that will sell you the real thing!

 

[Spart9n]

Wow I cant believe they sold me the wrong parts, I just took their word figuring it was a John Deere dealer and they d give me the right stuff. What a racket. When I bought the guards they just had a sticker on the bottom that had the part number on them they do not have it cast into them. I will call them with this info and see what happens. I feel a little ripped off to say the least.

 

[Leroy]

I have been years ago told to bend the guards and tried that and no they will not bend for adjustment, at least the older ones will not. If the het dammaged and bent then all you can do is throw them away. And I have had no problem with the 700 guards, they fit fine. something else is the problem.

 

[James Howell]

Agree.

 

[Spart9n]

(quoted from post at 07:23:29 10/15/19) Agree.

n order to rule out the 700 guards I went ahead and bought one of the guards listed on Ebay above. I figure its worth 10 bucks to figure this out. Plus if it works I'm 1 guard ahead and it will give me something to show them at the John Deere Dealer.

 

[ET]

Did you install new wear plates under the hold down clips? They hold up the heel of the section bar which in turn brings the knife section into contact with the guards.

 

[Spart9n]

I did not install new wear plates the old ones looked ok. Also I was afraid new plates would be thicker or something and compound my problem.

 

[rod in nebraska]

Had same problem years ago with a 38
mower,was replacing guard's as they broke
with the 700s,one spring decided to
complete rebuild, stripped the bar down
and started putting back to get her,
noticed the 700 had a different angle for
the sickle, went and bought all new John
Deere and it fit right

 

[Spart9n]

So a little update on this. I went to John Deere and showed them the part I purchased from ebay, which by the way, lined up perfectly with my old guard when I put it on the piece of flat steel. On the way I stopped by tractor supply and bought a cheap DM700 for comparison, because they're identical. The guy had no idea what to think. He just kept looking a the ebay one saying "this must be an old version". When I asked him to tell me the difference between the tractor supply guard and the ones they sold me, he just said "Huh they must use the same mold". He also couldn't answer why the "new" AE36136 guards had completely different dimensions than the ebay one. He told me they would have to open a case with John Deere about it and get back to me. When they eventually called me , he told me that John Deere told him that in order for the new guards to work properly with my machine that I would have to buy around $500 in extra parts. What parts? I'm not sure, but I plan to ask when I take the guards back. Thankfully he said they would give me my money back even though I had used them. So I'm left with a machine that doesn't work, lots of wasted time, and parts that are not available through the manufacture. Looks like its back to the drawing board.

 

[ArleninOr]

I have some NOS guards and ledger plate and sickle sections.

 

[Bob]

(quoted from post at 12:13:51 10/25/19) So a little update on this. I went to John Deere and showed them the part I purchased from ebay, which by the way, lined up perfectly with my old guard when I put it on the piece of flat steel. On the way I stopped by tractor supply and bought a cheap DM700 for comparison, because they're identical. The guy had no idea what to think. He just kept looking a the ebay one saying "this must be an old version". When I asked him to tell me the difference between the tractor supply guard and the ones they sold me, he just said "Huh they must use the same mold". He also couldn't answer why the "new" AE36136 guards had completely different dimensions than the ebay one. He told me they would have to open a case with John Deere about it and get back to me. When they eventually called me , he told me that John Deere told him that in order for the new guards to work properly with my machine that I would have to buy around $500 in extra parts. What parts? I'm not sure, but I plan to ask when I take the guards back. Thankfully he said they would give me my money back even though I had used them. So I'm left with a machine that doesn't work, lots of wasted time, and parts that are not available through the manufacture. Looks like its back to the drawing board.

Thanks for getting back to us and confirming my suspicion that the aftermarket guards don't match up!

I wish I'd seen this earlier, I was at the nearby dealer today (who shows 27 AE36136 in stock), and see if they are pawning off the aftermarket guards as DEERE AE36136 's, as well.

 

[watertreatpete]

I had the same problem with a m51 mower for my M last winter, I had bought the guards so I didn't want to return them so I put them in my mill and machined them down to the same size as the old guards. A few of them had hard spots and were hard to machine so I put them in the wood stove to anneal, machined much better. you could try new ledger plates on your old guards , not that hard to change rivet new ones on.